Electroporation chambers are used to apply electric pulses to cells to open their membranes, thereby allowing the performance of various operations such as the introduction of materials (e.g., genetic materials, ions, and chemical agents such as drugs), the activation of cell processes (e.g., the activation of oocyte development), and the electrofusion of cells (a process whereby porated cells are merged into a single cell). General background information on electroporators (i.e., devices which include chambers wherein electroporation occurs) and electroporation procedures can be found in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,476,004 to Pohl; U.S. Pat. No. 4,923,814 to Marshall, III; U.S. Pat. No. 5,869,326 to Hofmann; U.S. Pat. No. 5,911,223 to Weaver et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,983,131 to Weaver et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,989,901 to Zhao et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,010,613 to Walters et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,014,584 to Hoffman et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,043,066 to Mangano et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,068,650 to Hoffman et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,096,020 to Hoffman; U.S. Pat. No. 6,103,084 to Uhen; U.S. Pat. No. 6,150,148 to Nanda et al.; and in the references cited therein. For greater productivity, flow-through electroporation chambers have been developed, as in U.S. Pat. No. 6,027,488 to Hoffman et al. and U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,300,108, 6,403,348, and 6,562,604 to Rubinsky et al. Nevertheless, electroporation procedures remain challenging to perform, in large part owing to difficulties with manipulating cells (in view of their size and fragility), and the controlled environments in which procedures must be performed.